Shaun Rankin at Grantley hall, Ripon

Oh my, oh my, Grantley Hall, the Palladian mansion near Ripon, lavishly upgraded in 2019 from and Adult Education centre to luxury hotel to the tune of £70 million.

Seventy million quid takes some spending, even with 47 opulent bedrooms, a state of the art spa, three restaurants, a night club, carefully manicured grounds and a helipad. It is the dream project of Valeria Sykes described by the Financial Times as a coal miner’s daughter from Barnsley ‘with an undimmed accent’. Valeria was married to Mr Meadowhall, Paul Sykes for 45 years until the couple divorced in 2012 leaving her with enough cash to spend on projects like this.

The three restaurants at Grantley Hall are the casual dining Fletchers, the Asian Restaurant 88 and the flagship, ‘Shaun Rankin at Grantley Hall’ where for £90 plus a wine flight Shaun and his team will prepare an exquisite multi-course menu that reflects his Yorkshire roots.

Here at Squid, we’ve never been over-excited by tweezered plates and micro portions, but be assured Rankin’s menu is creative, innovative and very very good.